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 BHAGALPUR. places in large quantities,

of antimony forms.

is

and much of which is argentiferous. Sulphuret Copper exists in the southern hills in various

also found.

Iron ore

owing to the good flux.

345

is

also largely distributed, but

difficulties in the

way of procuring

is

not

much worked,

sufficient fuel,

and a

—

History When the East India Company assumed the diwdm of Bengal (1765), Bhigalpur District formed the eastern part of the Muhammadan sarkdroi Monghyr, and lay, with the exception of a single pargaiid (ChhM), to the south of the Ganges. At that time, the country to the south and west was in such an unsettled state, owing to the inroads of.

hill tribes, that the exact boundaries of Bhagalpur in those directions cannot now be determined ; and it was not until 1774 that an officer was specially deputed to ascertain the limits of the District. Down to 1769, the revenue and criminal jurisdiction continued in native hands. At the end of that year, an English Supervisor was appointed,

the

who

lived at

RijmahM, and whose

duties were ‘to obtain a

summary

and capacity of the lands, the amount of the revenues, the cesses or arbitrary taxes, and of all demands whatsoever which are made on the cultivators, the manner of collecting them, and the gradual rise of every new import, the regulations of commerce and the administration of justice.’ He did not, history of the provinces, the state, produce,

however, actually supervise the collections.

In 1772, when the

Com-

pany determined to take the management of the revenue into its own hands, it was found that, during the previous seven years, more than p^5o,ooo of the land revenue had been embezzled annually. Measures were at once taken to place the collections on a satisfactory footing; the zannnddrs were ordered to live on their estates and attend to the collection of their rents, and were imprisoned if they fell into arrears. The next point to which the attention of the Collector was turned was the administration of criminal justice. The southern portion of the District, as has been stated, was subject to constant inroads from hill tribes. The ravages of these marauders became more and more serious. In December 1777 and January 1778, forty-four villages were plundered and burnt, and in May of the latter year the hillmen had become so daring that some of the Collector’s tents were off within a few miles of the civil station of Bhagalpur. Large gangs of plunderers traversed the District, and life was as

carried

insecure as property.

It

had become a matter of supreme importance Mr. Cleveland, who was then Collector of

to pacify these hill tribes.

the District, set himself earnestly to the task, and, in conjunction with

Captain James Browne, of Rdjmahal, originated and carried out a scheme which resulted in the arrangement of 1780 and the pensioning of the

the

hill chiefs.

article

The

history of these proceedings will be found in

on the S, tal Pargan.as.

From

this date, the

District